Daniel Briere’s first priority hiring right coach for Flyers

VOORHEES, N.J. – Daniel Briere entered Saturday’s news conference carrying a folder of papers and a notepad, so you knew he meant business.

The Flyers general manager was prepared for any and all questions.

Twenty-nine minutes and 19 seconds later, he had done exactly that – from queries about the hiring of a new head coach to the direction his hockey club is headed.

Because the Flyers fired head coach John Tortorella less than a month ago, the topic of securing a bench boss for the 2025-26 season remains the hottest of topics.

Briere wants things to settle down a bit, however, before he gets into the serious interview/hiring process.

“It will probably be one of the first and most important things we address,” he said on Saturday’s closing day of exit interviews at the Flyers Training Center. “To be honest, we haven’t started interviewing or even making a short list yet.”

That list could include interim coach Brad Shaw, about-to-be free agent coach Rick Tocchet and Dave Carle, whose University of Denver Pioneers just won the NCAA championship.

“The last couple days I met with the players,” Briere explained. “I haven’t met with the coaches yet, the rest of the staff.

“There’s no doubt the coaching search will be an important one.”

The Flyers haven’t made the playoffs in a franchise record-tying five seasons but there doesn’t seem like there’s a real rush to speed up the timeline back to contention status.

Without a doubt, this season was a step back for the organization. The Flyers finished last in the Metropolitan Division and had the fourth-worst record in the NHL at 33-39-10.

Briere was asked what qualities he’s looking for in his next head coach, including his philosophy as the Flyers continue a rebuild.

Would players be asked for their input?

“I think we [Briere and president of hockey operations Keith Jones] are around the team, around the dressing room enough to understand what we need [to be] moving forward with the players that we have,” Briere said. “And where we’re at.

“So I think it’s a little bit unfair to ask the players to comment on exactly what happened with ‘Torts’ [Tortorella], and what they want in the next coach.”

Briere said he wants a coach with an open, two-way dialogue with his players.

“First of all, I always believe communication is important,” Briere said. “Someone that can come in and teach will be an important one.”

And maybe provide a little more latitude.

“He [Tortorella] demanded a lot,” Briere said. “Now it’s finding a coach that can take it to another level. But at the same time, gives a little more freedom to the players to try things. And let their talents come out.”

This will be Briere’s first hiring of a coach and he realizes how crucial the decision will be.

“Our guys are pretty sturdy, they’ve learned under ‘Torts,’ ” Briere said. “Anybody that comes in will seem a lot milder than him, I would expect. Someone less vocal-hardened than ‘Torts’ was.”

Briere said Shaw, who, at 60, has never been a permanent head coach, will be in the running.

Brighter future?

When will the Flyers get back into contention?

“There’s no secret that last year [2023-24, 124 days in a playoff spot] we probably overachieved from what the expectations were,” the GM said. “This year we underachieved but I still feel we’re much closer than where we finished in the standings.

“I think we’re at a stage now where we’re going to shift a little bit from subtracting from the roster to start to add and help the team. The last two years we were trying to figure out what we had under our belts.”

Plus, the drafted player picture looks much brighter.

The list includes at least six blue-chip prospects: Jett Luchanko, Oliver Bonk, Alex Bump, Karsen Dorwart, Denver Barkey and Nikita Grebenkin.

“That’s six players who didn’t really have a role until the trade deadline,” Briere said. “To me, that’s the exciting part. That was my message to the players.”

The Flyers also unloaded some contracts (Morgan Frost, Joel Farabee, Scott Laughton) via trades, so that will provide more salary cap space.

“It would be nice to add a player [free agent or trade candidate] or two,” the GM said, “to come in and help on that front.”

Goaltending needs some help

Sam Ersson, Ivan Fedotov and Aleksei Kolosov all had some moments in goal this season but Briere said that position needs some help.

“It’s definitely an area we need [help] along the way,” Briere said. “Some better play, maybe some help from outside. It’s an area we need to be better at. If we have a chance to improve, we’re going to seriously consider it.”

Kolosov status cloudy

Kolosov only got into 17 games this season and Briere said he could not go into detail why.“It was a tough year for him,” Briere said. “No doubt about it. He says he learned a lot. He wasn’t quite happy with the year he had [5-9-1].”

Ristolainen to miss start of next season

Briere disclosed that defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen, who missed the last 16 games with an arm injury, underwent surgery on April 8 and will miss the start of the 2025-26 season.

Restricted free agents to get offers

The Flyers have four restricted free agents: Noah Cates, Tyson Foerster, Jakob Pelletier and Cam York.

Briere said there have been talks and those will resume now that the season is over.

NHL free agents being considered

Briere said he could be interested in presenting offer sheets to some free agents around the league.

“It’s a tool we’re going to look into,” he said. “It has to make sense. The thing is, when you go down that route, you have to overpay.”

Will Flyers use all their draft picks?

The Flyers are flush with draft picks this year, including three first-rounders. Will they use them all or use them as trade capital?

“We’re going to try to be creative and get some value there,” Briere said. “No doubt it’s a lot of picks [eight inside the top 70].”

Wayne Fish is a freelance writer. Follow his coverage at www.flyingfishhockey.com